Queen's property manager and Treasury to get windfarm windfall of nearly £9bn

BP among the winners in auction of offshore seabed rights for next decade

The Queen and the Treasury could receive an offshore windfarm windfall of up to 9bn over the next decade, after an auction of seabed plots attracted runaway bids from energy companies including the oil company BP.

The crown estate's first auction of its seabed licences in a decade will earn the Queen's property manager 879m a year, for up to 10 years, and clear the way for six new offshore windfarms and enough clean electricity generation for more than 7m homes.